Unexpected Forms of Ressurection
by If-I-were-the-moon
Summary: Merlin has waited for Arthur's return for far too long for his liking. But when he is back who comes with him? And what will they remember of the past they once shared?
1. Prologue

Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

**Prologue**

Merlin had waited, has easy as it had seemed it would be when he was by the lake, when he had known that he would have to wait for Albion to be in need before Arthur would rise. He had always known it may come down to this, and had dreaded the moment 'till it came, tears spilling from his anguished eyes. He had thought that it would not be long before Arthur was needed, how wrong he was.

He had waited for many years, changing his attire and ways as time slowly crawled by. He saw Camelot's lands divided, the first computers, men on the moon and new countries in war, far bloodier then war had ever been in Arthur's days. He had never aged though; in fact recently he began to look younger. Slowly he became less of a 22 year old and more of a 15 year old. His decreasing age had seemed like his body was trying to erase all memories of the years with Arthur. He had tried to forget, so hard that he almost had, but the bit of Arthur in him clung to the memories and pains of his life with his best-friend; 'No' he silently corrected now, his late best friend.

The issues with not aging were that despite being able to maintain his character and strength he also had to change identities about every seven years. He would gain friends, almost have the grasp of a real teenage life, but then have to lose them because his magic couldn't keep up with his spells that tried to age him to match his friends pace. Then Merlin would suddenly have to "move away" from his new friends. He would release is aging spells and once again become his younger self, then move and begin fresh with a new record and a new reputation, of the new kid. This had happened so often that he didn't even feel like a new kid, it was just routine.

Losing Arthur, Gwen and Gwain had been the hardest thing that had happened to him. Hell, he even missed Morgana and her sheer blindness to the obvious, in the Pendragon blood he always thought just to try to cheer himself up.

It was 2013; Merlin had long ago given up counting the years he had ached for his friends. Every day he visited the small plot of land he had, where the lake had once been. If anyone asked his rich uncle had given it to him. Long ago he had also given up visiting the lake each week, instead moving to the states, finding a place much like how Camelot had been. In his new life Portland, Oregon; he had all but completely abandoned any thoughts of Arthur returning and had just begun to sink into normal life. Never once had he thought that just that month it would all take a surprising turn.


	2. Chapter 1

Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

**CHAPTER I**

Gwen had her headphones on in her small backyard in a neighborhood on the borders of the urban growth boundary. To one side of her average sized home she shared with her brother, Elliot, and her father, laid the city and more homes, to the other the forest. Her short, cropped dark brown hair pulled back from her face only by the black headphones prevented it from falling forward into her way as she moved her head to the music coursing through them as she pulled weeds and attended to her precious Lilacs and other flowers and herbs. Her rich violet tank top and torn jean capris provided little relief from the heat of the spring day. As she moved back and forth to the sound of the new Mumford and Sons album pounding into her ears in her Portland yard, she barely had time to yelp in surprise ad she noticed Arthur standing behind her with a grin on his face before he had tickled her with a fern branch on her exposed neck.

"Arthur, you insufferable twat! How did you get back here!" she exclaimed after quickly composing herself after the very girlish giggles she had made a moment before when she had been brutally attacked with a fern branch.

"Well, seeing as I was in the forest fooling round with Gwain and saw a perfectly good fern branch lying on the path, I took it upon myself to do the great deed of showing it to you and graciously let myself in through the gate," he said with a stupid smirk on his face at catching her off-guard.

"Well, where is Gwain then," she haughtily replied looking around for Arthurs pranking friend. He warily eyed Arthur who was still standing above her while she was still sitting 'front of her flower beds. He was, per usual wearing a red t-shirt and denim shorts, his dark blond hair flopping in his face. His brown Converse trainers well-worn from his many antics about the neighborhood and rest of the city, often accompanies by Gwain. She thought, being 15, he was far too old to be still running around like a child. But there he was in front of her, with the same grin and energy he had since he was born, when he and Gwen had grown neighbors and being nearly the same age, they were close friends.

"Ah, Gwain is most likely wandering the woods, most likely looking for Percy or your brother to pick on." He said, still without wiping the stupid grin off his face, and continued, "well come on Gwen, everyone is out there! I miss you!" He added jokingly pulling on her arm holding the spade, she noticed, making sure she didn't have full swinging motion with the spade. Arthur knew from experience that a seemingly harmless mini-shovel hurt A LOT when Gwen wanted him to sod off.

"Argh! Fine" She said, relenting to his pitiful attempts to flirt with her as she brushed off her pants and trudged off after Arthur, over the fence and into the woods on the other side to join her past-schoolmates. Now summer torturers.


	3. Chapter 2

Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

**Chapter II**

Summer passed too slowly for Gwen, she enjoyed school, as she was quite intelligent. She also needed a well-deserved break from Arthur and his band of friends, ranging from 14 (Percy) to 16 (Lance). Arthur wasn't the oldest, but most certainly the leader. Whether that was because of his wealth, much more than the rest, or his natural leadership skills, was left to the decider. Gwen thought the latter, just because she couldn't see Gwain putting up with Arthur being the leader if only for his status. No, it was defiantly just his natural skills.

Little did Gwen know, a boy just a couple blocks down had the summer going by just as painfully. But he had no friends, just him and his usual spot deep in the woods, far from the fools he often saw traipsing around. He had no guardian, not that anyone knew. Over the years he had become adept at imitating signatures, pompous tones and other adult manners to simulate to callers or school teachers that he did have a guardian. A simple aging potion took care as issues such as parent-teacher conferences or meetings. He easily took care of himself, using some of Camelot's past funds he had traded in many centuries ago to buy the essentials. He took care of food and his immense need for books himself, as well as the occasional needed item for school. Occasionally he would have to buy some wardrobe supplements but over the years, as he didn't change much, he had built up quite the supply of solid button down shirts, t-shirts and hoodies in blue and red. Never did he waver from those colours, as they brought back some fond memories.

Most of the time he was not at dull school, he was out in the woods reading, as they also reminded him of the hunts Arthur and he would go on. And the deep conversations they would have by the fire when no one else was around. On these days he would miss his old friends more than ever, but once again would be forced to remind himself that he could never see them again.

As both Gwen's and Merlin's summers concluded in the late warm nights of August, Merlin felt a ripple inside of him. This sort of thing usually meant he was emotional, but a quick glance at his hands told him more. They were softly glowing, a sign of returning magic. With this inkling of hope in his mind that they could be returning, a sliver of fear crept in. This meant that a trial for Albion must be returning too.

Not just six miles away, 16 year old Morgana opened her eyes.


	4. Chapter 3

Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

**Chapter III**

Summer concluded with little trouble for Merlin. He was going to be attending Kingston High School this time around; he had once attended right after its making in 1989, but having only attended it for 2 years, doubted that anyone would make a connection. It had been 24 years and he was supposed to be graduated and through college, but things like that never worked out for him, Merlin thought bitterly to himself. He grabbed his brown knapsack and threw in the last of his supplies for his sophomore year, again. How many times had he'd graduated this grade? 57? Didn't matter anyway, he was a straight A student from the start of the Public Education era, and stayed that way while learning as much as he could in the medical department.

Realizing he had gotten distracted, Merlin grabbed his book bag and went out to the bus. He had never bothered to learn to drive; half of the time anyways he was too young for it to be legal. On the bus he glanced around to observe his new peers. He instantly noticed a tight-knit group of people who looked approximately his age; he had forgotten what his age was for a second. He smiled as they looked up at him when he boarding the bus.

* * *

Gwen quickly sat by Lance on the bus, as to avoid Arthur. Honestly she was quite sick of him.

She saw a boy with messy black hair and extremely pale skin board the bus. "New kid, our grade," Gwain whispered in her ear from the seat behind her. When he noticed them all looking he smiled. Curious for a new kid.

* * *

Merlin had gotten through his classes easy enough. Met a few people he liked and a few people he didn't, and especially didn't seem to like him. He carefully began to catalog the new information on students as to use it to his advantage next day. Unfortunetly for him, this also ment he was quite dead to the world around him and before he knew it he had wandered into an abandoned back hallway after the day had ended. Down the expanse of tiles he was a couple of figures, seemingly dinking a smaller one in a trash bin.

"Alright, my friend you've had your fun," Merlin called to the figures he was approaching.

"Have we met?" The said the largest one as he turned toward Merlin, sneering.

"Ah, no. Nevertheless you should probley put that poor lad down." Responded Merlin, used to dealing with these sort of people.

"Because you asked so nicely," he leered back while signaling to the goons to put the boy down. To their credit they did, by throwing him into the trash bin. All four of them turned to Merlin. He quickly saw where this was going and ducked just as the leaders fist went barreling into the spot on the wall where his face had just been.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to all readers! This is my first Fan Fiction and I would love some input through either reviews or a quick PM. Thank you all!


	5. Chapter 4

Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

**Chapter IX**

**A/N:** I am most apologetic that I have not updated in so long. Over the summer I will aim to update much more often.

Also thank you to my new beta reader, Literatifan4eva, she has been very helpful!

* * *

_He quickly saw where this was going and ducked just as the leaders fist went barreling into the spot on the wall where his face had just been._

Merlin knew how to handle himself in a fight that was one thing he had retained from his years with Arthur. The question of whether of not he could stand up to three older boys for long without using his magic still stood.

Merlin carefully dodged a few more punches and darted around the rude one from earlier. He saw that the chap who had fallen on his head was darting through a door outside. _You're welcome_; he couldn't help but think to himself while swinging around one of the attackers.

He was careful not to throw any punches of his own, just to avoid contact until it was his time to make a break for it. He had learned his lesson at one of his other schools that new kids are easy to put blame on, especially if that new kid managed to punch pretty well. Technically not this fault if that kid's nose broke so easily.

Never-the-less he knew how this story ended. Either he left the fight hurt and no one ever heard about it or he fought back and everyone heard about it. Normally he went for door three, the option to leave unhurt and the perpetrator unpunished.

The issue with his commonly used "battle plan", if you'd call it that, was that an opening to leave wasn't presenting itself quite yet. He wasn't getting tired yet, nor would he soon, but this whole dodge thing was pushing its luck against this many opponents and Merlin wasn't sure how much longer he could emerge scratch free.

* * *

"I can't believe you had us miss the bus just so you could be with Gwen," mumbled Gwaine with a scowl on his face. Arthur had a thing for Gwen, he had for years, and he knew that. But that didn't make the fact they had missed the bus any better.

"Shut up," was all the princess replied with. Although if Gwaine looked hard enough, he could see that little smile that he gets after seeing Gwen on his face.

They walked down the hallways to get to the back exit a bit further; they were mostly deserted at this time of day. _All thanks to Arthur's conquests in love_, Gwaine thought to himself bitterly. That princess was getting on his nerves.

Arthur's voice calling his name dragged Gwaine, kicking and screaming, out of his thoughts.

"I think that new kid has managed to find an enemy already." Arthur said, a grin spreading over his face at the prospect of a new fight.

"Then again with that group, it doesn't take much. You just have to exist," retorted Gwaine a grin lifting his face to match Arthur's own.

* * *

Merlin's skill was slipping. Keeping this sort of thing up for long wouldn't be possible without the assistance of magic. But then he ducked under a punch to and noticed a couple familiar faces appear alongside him, and he was pretty sure they were assisting him.

"Managed to get yourself in a bit of a scuffle already, didn't 'cha mate," said a shaggy haired boy with a prominent accent.

"Something like that, technically not my fault," Merlin responded, grinning while ducking beneath a pummeling fist.

The boy from before threw back his head and laughed, earning him a punch in the stomach for his troubles. He quickly recovered and gave the deliverer of the blow a matching mark.

"See, that's what you get for conversing while you should be focusing," retorted the other boy, one with dark blonde hair.

"Shut your pie-hole, princess! You're not my coach."

The blonde boy smiled a little and it seemed to Merlin that essentially that was what he was to the other boy.

Apparently having decided that this fight was getting tedious, the blonde ducked and ran out the door leading to the outside.

"That's our cue," said the other boy. So both he and Merlin followed in his tracks.


	6. Chapter 5

Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

**Chapter X**

**A/N:** Once again, thank you to my amazing beta reader, Literatifan4eva.

* * *

The adrenaline of the fight was draining away from Merlin, as was the desire to unleash magic. In situations like this it was as if the very thing that made him who he was could whisper him, tempting him like a little devil on his shoulder. _Not too much… No one will believe them… They wouldn't try this again if you did_. No matter how tempting the opportunity; Merlin had resisted, but he was never sure if properly threatened he would be able to do so.

The three of them collapsed against the brick wall of the gym behind the school, confident that they were alone, they all started chuckling.

"Well that was enjoyable," Gwaine called out to Merlin, still laughing, "What did you do to so properly piss them off?"

"I told them to stop dropping a kid in the trash bin and they got a tad over-excited," Merlin replied with a chuckle.

"A regular samaritan," Arthur said with a taunting tone.

"Gets me in a lot more trouble than you'd think," Merlin said, suddenly more somber. He was concentrating his attention on the wall in his head that held back the emotions and memories of Camelot. These were things he was trying to hold back; the memories of the time he had shared and the loss he had suffered to help others.

"I believe proper introductions are in order here," Arthur announced. He turned from his place leaning against the wall to hold out his hand to Merlin.

"I'm Arthur and this is Gwaine," he revealed while shaking Merlin's hand.

Merlin paled.

"Merlin," he mumbled back; not wanting to explain much more.

This was no coincidence. There is no way on earth a Gwaine and an Arthur could be together. The wall Merlin had built with a steady hand in his mind crumbled apart before the stampede of memories coming forward_. How Arthur had acted like such a prat when they first met…__When they had first met Gwaine in a tavern brawl… When Arthur had nearly died due to a stupid bracelet… How Gwaine had died thinking he had betrayed his king…_ It was too much memory in such a short amount of time. Everything he had tried to bury away; he had gotten away with it for many decades.

"I really have to go," Merlin said feeling flustered; he definitely needed to leave quickly. He stood and turned towards his neighborhood. Calling over his shoulder, "Thanks for the help back there."

"See you on the bus; come sit by us," Gwaine called back.

"What the heck just happened," Arthur couldn't help but whisper back.

* * *

Merlin had a headache. Well, if that's what you could call the agonizing pain of a past life sweeping into your brain uncontrollably.

He was home faster than he thought physically possible, maybe a record. Still rubbing his fingers into his temples he threw himself into the cushions of the couch and let all the thoughts of his past flood through his mind.

_Memories of every morning he had done chores ran into his head. How Arthur had never known everything about his best friend for all the years they had known each other. How Merlin had saved him on a daily basis. The agony of when he was poisoned to save his friend who wasn't quite yet a friend. Worst of all when Arthur had died; when finally he had accepted who Merlin was, they were supposed to unite the kingdoms with magic. But that never could happen._

The tears that Merlin never allowed himself to shed for the loss of his friends and life in Camelot rushed out, he hadn't even noticed they had started. At the same time the gratitude that resurrection had happened when he was still sane filled his body with elation. All his emotions fell from his eyes onto the pillow he had buried his face in.

The tears of loss and the tears of joy mingling together.

* * *

**A/N:** This is my first piece of fan fiction writing and I would greatly appreciate reviews or comments. Thank you!


	7. Chapter 6

Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

**Chapter XI**

**A/N: **Once again thank you to my beta reader, Literatifan4eva.

* * *

Naturally, Merlin did not know how meeting everyone again was going to go. It was customary to assume that he would meet them on the bus the next morning with Gwaine and Arthur as they had suggested; and it was this concept that was keeping Merlin awake all night.

Questions plagued his mind has they never had before and emotions swept through him quicker than he could count. _What if they didn't like him… would they ever remember their past life… would they __**all**__ come back? _ The fears that he had never addressed before haunted him until the sun rose in the distance.

* * *

As it turned out he needn't have worried about what would happen on the bus that morning, because he missed it. _Typical_, he thought to himself while starting the 1.7 mile trek to school. _Maybe meeting Arthur again has brought back my "luck", _was one of the many bitter thoughts floating through his mind has he walked. Needless to say he was late for 1st period.

* * *

On the bus Gwen absent-mindedly listened to Gwaine's tale of the previous day's adventures. Gwaine was a bit of an exaggerator to say the least. In order to get the story a little less so, Gwen was forced to turn to Arthur.

"So what actually happened," she asked with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Arthur gave the story a bit more frankly and a lot less long-winded. But at the name of the boy they had helped tugged none so gently at Gwen's subconscious; it was a sense of deja vu to say the least. Her mind chased rapidly after any reason she would be experiencing this feeling after hearing such an unusual name that she was sure she would remember.

"Gwen, you in there?" Arthur asked, after noticing she was paying no attention to his story about how he tricked Percy into asking out his stepsister's weird friend.

"Yeah, sorry distracted," was her curt reply. But the rest of the ride, a feeling of restlessness bothered her.

* * *

Merlin didn't see anyone else he had known for the first couple classes of his that day. He looked, he truly did, but he could see none of his old friends roaming the halls. Until in his advanced maths class a girl with short brown hair caught his eye when the role was read aloud. Gwen Coulby was surely Guinevere. Luckily for Merlin (since when did that happen), she was sitting in front of him as well.

After class when they were both packing up their notebooks to go to their next class he made his move to talk to her.

* * *

Gwen was packing up her bag, ready to move to her next class when suddenly a voice spoke next to her, startling Gwen out of her thoughts.

"My names Merlin," he said tentatively. Holding out his hand while hoisting his bag onto his shoulder.

"Oh, yes. Gwaine and Arthur mentioned you this morning. It was very brave of you standing up to Cenred like that. I'm Gwen," was her rushed reply. This was evidently the new boy she thought. She looked at him a bit more closely after remembering this, and saw something interesting: his face was most definitely familiar.

Intense light and sound flooded through Gwen's mind. It was as if someone had just shone a flashlight into her eyes. _The sounds of a town and the hustle and bustle that it produced floated thorough her ears. Emotions filled her, all conflicting with each other; the feelings of love and betrayal, of despair and of joy. _And as soon as it was there; it was gone.

Gwen opened her eyes to see a concerned Merlin looking at her, asking if she was ok.

"Yes fine, migraine I guess," was her rushed reply as she picked up her bag. "I really must go; it was nice meeting you Merlin."

She left the room, Merlin looking a bit confused as to what had happened.

* * *

At lunch, Merlin spotted Arthur and Gwaine sitting at one of the round tables in the cafeteria. He could see that there were four other boys sitting with them. Knowing who these boys most likely were, he took a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart and walked over. As he slid into the empty seat next to Gwaine, the person in question clasped his shoulders tightly and introduced everyone to Merlin.

The four knights looked roughly the same as they had in Camelot. Leon, Elliot, Percy and Lance gave polite nods to Merlin while continuing to eat.

"Usually Gwen would be here as well, she's Elliot's sister," Gwaine explained, gesturing to one of the two empty seats. Merlin, of course, already knew that they were siblings but it looked like he was going to have to play dumb for a while. Suddenly a question popped up in his mind.

"Where is Gwen? I met her earlier today in maths, why isn't she here now?" Merlin asked looking at the other six boys.

"Went home with a headache," answered Percy, a man of few words.

The rest of lunch passed with some light conversation and laughs, Gwaine telling wild stories and Arthur laughing at Merlin's stupid jokes. It seemed as if whether or not Arthur and the knights would accept Merlin wasn't going to be much of an issue.

* * *

Gwen had gone home early due to her headache. A flood of memories continued to wash over her uncontrollably, and she unlike Merlin had absolutely no clue what was going on.

_Serving to a kind woman but being more than just a servant to her… the friendship of another serving boy… the pang of loss as her father dies… a love she held for a boy who looked suspiciously like Arthur… betrayal of a close friend as she turned against them all… an image of Elliot dying, a sword's hilt in his chest…_

She sobbed into a pillow in her dark room and continued to ignore her father when he asked if she needed anything for the headache. It was not the headache that bothered her as much as the images that accompanied it. She fell into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning as more memories penetrated her dreams. When she awoke she decided she was going to need help, and decided to seek it from someone who she repeatedly saw in the images, one who was uncannily wise in this dream reality. With that thought in mind she took out her laptop and started the search for an address.

* * *

Merlin had long ago finished any homework he was assigned, having already mastered many things from school long ago, and was currently watching Doctor Who. His mind wandered from the show into thoughts of how the heck this whole coming back to life thing worked. _Bit like regeneration; same person but a bit different_, he thought to himself and chuckled dryly to himself at his Doctor Who joke. If Arthur were here he would have fond some way to insult Merlin for that, was his next thought told him; he was once again in a more somber mood.

A knock sounded at the door, managing to get a sigh out of Merlin; he sincerely hoped it wasn't someone from school as he didn't have the energy to think of a good lie about where his guardian was (nowhere).

To his surprise he instead found Gwen standing outside, looking quite sheepish.

"I think I need your help," she murmured, rubbing her toe into the ground. "I keep having weird dreams and you are in them," she continued very quietly.

"Come in," Merlin replied quickly; shutting the door behind her. _It seems at least one of them will remember _and he didn't even try to hide the smile creeping onto his face.

* * *

**A/N:** Please feel free to PM me or review as I am a first time fan fiction writer. Thank you for reading


	8. Chapter 7

Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

**Chapter XII**

Gwen sat on Merlin's couch, nervously twiddling her fingers around the mug of tea Merlin had given her. Worry was tugging at the back of her mind, maybe it was all just nightmares and she had come here to the house of a boy she barely knew to make a fool of herself. Merlin's voice startled her out of her reminiscing.

"How did you find me?" he called out of the kitchen where he was grabbing the box of cookies from one of the shelves to bring over to Gwen.

"Percy is pretty good with computers and managed to look at houses sold recently," she responded, still nervously twiddling the bottom of her shirt.

Merlin looked impressed as he walked back into the relatively small living room in his one story house with the snacks.

"So how can I help you?"

* * *

Merlin was quite curious as to why Gwen needed him so urgently. He wasn't in the school directory and his "guardian" didn't even have the same last name as him, so evidently Gwen needed him desperately and quickly to ask from Percy and go through the effort to track him down.

Merlin sat down in the teal chair opposite the coffee table from Gwen. Most of the furniture had come with the house and Merlin never bothered to get any himself as he would inevitably end up moving in a couple of years.

Grabbing his mug and a cookie, he settled down to hear Gwen's story.

* * *

"It started today when I went home with the migraine," Gwen began relating the facts of how she had seen people she knows in entirely different scenarios.

"You're going to think I'm mad but I saw Percy, Elliot, Leon and Gwaine dressed in armor battling other knights. I saw my father as a blacksmith. Then I saw both him and Elliot…" she trailed off, distraught at the memory of the dream. Merlin appeared to understand exactly what she meant, and nodded to continue.

"I saw you as a servant serving Arthur and I saw me as servant to a noble woman. But later I was a Queen and married to Arthur. I loved him," at that Gwen got all flustered.

"I don't love him now- we're just close friends. I mean I like him a lot obviously but we aren't dating or anything," Gwen babbled quickly trying to correct her mistake. Merlin just smiled at the memory that Gwen did this at first in Camelot as well.

"I know I sound bonkers, but they were all so real looking. It felt like I had seen them all before," she petered-off looking nervous again.

Merlin leaned forward slowly toward Gwen with a look of concern on his face, instead of the disgust or confusion she had expected.

"I don't think you're mad and if you want I'll try to explain all I know about this to you."

Merlin settled in for a long night and began explaining Camelot.

* * *

Gwen wasn't at school the next day, and Merlin wasn't surprised. It would be hard to face the people she knew twice; especially since she was the only one who knew so far. He planned on visiting her later today to see how she was doing; it was understandable to be shaken up.

At least she didn't think he was insane, it could have gone worse.

* * *

At school that day Merlin discovered he had Arthur, Gwaine and the knights in a lot of his classes. He had bonded well with Gwaine and Arthur; the rest kept to themselves a lot, but still liked Merlin.

To Merlin's disappointment that meant he had Arthur in his athletics class as well. That didn't go well.

Merlin had been placed on Arthur's in-class soccer team, a sport that Arthur proved good at; just like every other sport on the face of the earth it seemed. Merlin, on the other hand was not.

"Dammit, Merlin! Why are you so terrible at this?" Arthur cried for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Merlin wasn't so skilled at the dribbling bit and had a tendency to trip, a lot.

Merlin passed it to him, so that Arthur could score the sixth goal of the game. _Show off._

Just to prove Arthur wrong, he made sure to score the next goal. With a bit of magic of course, just to slow it down so that he could properly see where everyone was.

"Luck," Arthur called over his shoulder with a grin when they jogged back to midfield.

That's about as close you got to a compliment around Arthur.

* * *

Merlin had promised Gwen that all her memories would come back in the next couple of days. He hadn't necessarily explained much about what happened at Camelot, just that they hadn't finished their fates. He evidently didn't really know why they had come back with Arthur.

Gwen was lying on her bed looking up at the ceiling, it was a Friday and she needn't worry about school tomorrow so she waited for Merlin's visit. She had remembered nearly everything from Camelot and had some important questions left.

* * *

Merlin arrived later that day and was sitting in the main room sipping his drink. Her father was at work at the car shop and Elliot was at football practice with the rest of the knights and Arthur. She sat down opposite of Merlin just as they had the day before at Merlin's house.

"I remembered a lot. Most of it I think; and I need to ask you some stuff," Gwen began no longer so timid about the topic at hand. Merlin nodded his consent and gave his signature smile that Gwen could now recognize.

"Do you still have magic?"

"I never lost it; I never used it much though. Just to act like my 'guardian' if anyone official stops by."

"So you don't have anyone left?" Gwen asked. She looked a bit concerned for Merlin until she remembered what he had done in the past.

"I can take care of myself."

Gwen looked like her old self again for a moment, she was timid but curious. She carefully worded her next question.

"I never got to see your magic properly, may I?"

Merlin leaned forward and folded an old piece of homework left on the table into a bird. Gwen watched as he whispered a few words and it began to fly around the room. Gwen looked on with glee for a bit while Merlin continued to sip his tea.

"I have one last question," Gwen continued, "what made Morgana so evil in Camelot? Morgana here is just a nuisance."

When Gwen said that the bird dropped out of the sky with a dying tweet and combusted on the floor; Merlin nearly choked on his tea.

"Morgana is alive?"

* * *

**A/N:** Very sorry for the late update but this chapter was a bit more difficult for me to write. It didn't turn out as I had hoped; but whatever. I will be camping this weekend and as we all know the forest doesn't provide WIFI, so no updates for a while. Sorry!

This is my first piece of fan fiction and I would love feedback in the form of PM's or reviews! Just a couple of words will make my day. Thank you for reading!


	9. Chapter 8

Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

**VIII**

**A/N: So sorry about the long break! I was on vacation for several weekends.**

* * *

Merlin was presented with a opportunity to meet Morgana soon enough after this event.

Two days after Gwen had first alerted him of Morgana's continuing presence in his new life, Arthur had asked him for a favor. Finally the perks of never-ending school had come to help him.

After his last class had ended Merlin met Arthur and started the walk to his house. It was a much further walk than the usual to get to Merlin's home; in fact they had passed right through his neighborhood and gone further up the hill. Along the way they had talked about sports and the goings on at school; mostly about sports as that seemed it was the only thing Arthur really ever cared about.

When Arthur's house first came into view one thought struck Merlin hard like the hilt of a sword, _that place is huge_. It had been an old fort from WWII that had evidently been remodeled to make it more of a towering castle on the hill. Merlin turned to Arthur to say something, but seeing his sheepish look he realized that this was a normal reaction to seeing his home; and evidently he was a tad embarrassed about it. So they continued on in pleasant silence with Merlin's eyes soaking in the beautiful trees and paths around the home.

* * *

Arthur was glad of Merlin's silence, as most of the time when he first brought someone here they couldn't stop prattling on about it, which made him feel even more awkward and out-of-place. His father was a congressman and often liked to work from home when he could. Arthur's mother had died when he was young and he had very few memories of such things with her. Most of any motherly memories came with his step-mother, Enora, who he didn't particularly like. He knew that on Monday afternoons she usually went out with one of her friends and he was quite fine with her not being there.

Arthur grabbed a snack for Merlin and him to share and they went up to his room, which was quite large. Thankfully they made it with no sign of his father, but knowing Merlin even _his_ stony looks and probing questions couldn't bother him. _Good, _he thought, _for once maybe I can have someone over without fear of awkward parental relations._

* * *

Merlin noticed the lack of any parents being around but of course he had already figured as much would happen. He had talked with Gwen earlier that day and mentioned going over to Arthur's house when declining an invitation to get pizza that night, and she had told they where not around often.

He set down his bag and grabbed out the book that they had to read in literature class that Arthur was struggling to understand. Merlin though, with his years of experience, had become quite good at tutoring and helping people with such required reading. After eating a bit they had hardly begun in on deciphering the first scene of _Much Ado about Nothing_, when a knock arose at the door. Without waiting for Arthur to swallow his cookie and reply to whether of not they could come in, the knocker barged in.

She had medium length dark hair, pale skin and an abundance of heavily applied makeup. Clearly showing her loud attitude she was wearing a teal flowing t-shirt and black skinny jeans. Merlin had quickly recognized her from both his past experiences and Gwen's description of Arthur's step-sister after her abrupt entrance and sat watching until she may notice him in return.

After Morgana's dramatic entrance, as she did love those so, Arthur groaned. Of course Merlin would have to meet her and she was quite dramatically (literally and figuratively) embarrassing. Normally she would meet one of Arthur's friends, flirt a bit, and then dramatically float out of the room. Not wanting to see the awkward flirtations (anything with Merlin would be awkward) he quickly found a way to excuse himself. He held up a hand to stop whatever was about to spout of his ridiculous younger sister's mouth as an excuse for barging in.

"I don't care what your excuse is; I am going to go get some more snacks. You can bug Merlin," after seeing Merlin's injured face looking up at him he continued, "but when I get back you are out of here so we can work."

With that he left the room with the plate to head down to the kitchen. Immediately after his foot had touched the top step to head down the first of two flights of stairs he heard his sister start in on the interrogation. With a chuckle he continued walking.

* * *

As soon as Morgana heard the creak of the first step bending under Arthur's weight, she turned to Merlin.

"So how much do you remember from Camelot?" She asked and plopped herself down on the foot of Arthur's bed, extremely appreciating the look of confusion on Merlin's face.

* * *

**A/N: Once again, thank you for reading! I really appreciate all reviews or PMs no matter how short or misspelled! I will post another chapter hopefully during the last week of July/first week of August. Summer is going by far too quickly.**


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